Germany calls for strengthening UN peacekeeping missions

In view of the threats to peace worldwide, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has called on the international community to strengthen UN peacekeeping missions. At the start of a major conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on the reform of UN peacekeeping missions, Pistorius said on Tuesday that these missions were “the most effective and cost-efficient instruments for international crisis management”. They had “protected lives, supported political processes and helped to restore stability after violence”. For Germany, there was no question: “We must maintain and strengthen UN peacekeeping missions.”

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Pistorius referred to the “epochal” challenges facing the world. In addition to climate change, he mentioned the radical technological upheaval. Pistorius also referred to attacks on the international, rules-based order. Europe is experiencing the massive impact of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's “illegal and merciless war” against Ukraine. “It is an attack on international law, stability and peace,” said the minister. The question is whether the international community will allow an “imperial power to trample on the freedom of another sovereign nation”. The institutions and international mechanisms for stabilization and peace must be preserved. “Peace and security are not given to us as a gift, we must defend them.”

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More than 800 participants from all over the world are attending the conference in Berlin, including 60 foreign and defense ministers, according to Pistorius. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is also taking part. In addition to developing reforms for UN peacekeeping missions, the aim, according to Pistorius, is for countries to make their commitment clear - whether financially, politically or operationally. Concrete commitments are to be presented on the second day of the conference on Wednesday.

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Specifically, Pistorius named digital transformation and the use of new technologies, including drones, as challenges for strengthening UN peacekeeping missions. The mandates for UN peacekeeping missions must also be achievable and in line with reality.

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There are currently eleven UN peacekeeping missions around the world. The Bundeswehr is involved in three of them: in Lebanon, South Sudan and Western Sahara. Germany also provides police officers and civilian forces for other missions, for example in Kosovo. Germany is also involved in the training of blue helmets and provides equipment for missions.